macarthur31

Folks can fan how they want to fan, but gentle reminder that The Athletic has the Cubs in their Power Rankings usually in the top 6 in all of MLB. Sure, it may be hard to hear after the last couple of games, but invite folks to touch grass and take in the fact that the season isn't over until it's actually over. kthxbi

Understandable that going into this offseason that is uncertain w/r/t the CBA, perhaps paired with a really positive run in the playoffs he's enamored with Chicago (and the dyson vacuums behind him in the infield), and a pretty healthy SP FA market (Skubal headlines it, but you got Foster Griffin, Casey Mize, Michael King, Sonny Gray, Robbie Ray, Luis Severino, Jack Flaherty, Kevin Gausman, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Morejon...) perhaps he bites early on a contract extension. But, man, you're likely going to have to pay for him not to go to market - as this will be Holmes last shot at a big contract. Scanning Spotrac projections for 2027, we're at $146.5M in guaranteed contracts. CBT is at $244 and Tom will likely want to get back under an "reset" after going to $262M this year. (Of course, new CBA will likely change, but just trying to play out the thought experiment). What would it take for Clay to volunteer out of the shop window? $120M/4Y? 😬

19 G, 88 PA, .333/.384/.410, 8.0%BB, 21.6%K, 127 wRC+, 0.9 fWAR. The .433 BABIP and the .273 xwOBA suggests that he's likely gonna cool down, but BB has indeed done quite well in his first MLB stint.

You've convinced me to give Ayers the call. You've also backdoored into a "Predict the 28 on the Expanded Roster" thread. They'll have 24 games remaining, and I anticipate that the Couns has to balance the goals of 1)winning enough to get at least WC1 (or steal a bye) and 2)sorting out the outgetters and teeing them up to peak by playoff start. At this point, I'm seeing: Position Players (14) PCA Suzuki Busch Bregman Happ Nico Ramirez Kelly Amaya Conforto Dansby Ty Taylor Shaw? Ayers? Pushing: Kevin Alcantara? Gabriel Arias? James Triantos? Starters/Pen (14) Gausman Holmes Boyd Imanaga Peterson Ben Brown Aaron Civale Colin Rea Ryan Rolison Ryan Zeferjahn Trent Thornton Jacob Webb Danny Palencia Caleb Theilbar Pushing: Shelby Miller? Hoby Milner? Justin Steele? Javy Assad? @Jason Ross Also, just want to double click on this for your next pod (assuming you're recording before Sep 1) - who you got on the 28?

A google search turned up this graphic from DraftKings facebook page, and it was posted yesterday. Yeah - the Cubs being in the neighborhood of those teams is weird. The Pirates have improved their offense from last year - they sit 5th in team wRC+ of 105 (compared to Cubs' MLB leading 111) and they have a propensity to being shut out as well.

I dig that she's just an earnest Cub fan who has the bandwidth to post-up in the mid-afternoon to take snaps (and selfies) with Cub players; and in the process ends of back-dooring into scoops.

That's over 123 PAs; K%/BB% 22.8%/8.9%; xwOBA .380, 158 wRC+. I'll always have a soft spot for C-Mo, so hope he's able to make it stick this time.

As usual, great write up. This year's Cub bench was yearning for a savvy, veteran utility player - and it turned out that they got two of them in Michael Conforto and Pedro Ramirez. I've had the Suzuki/Happ free agency conundrum on the backburner of my mind, and yet I hadn't thought of the Shaw/Ramirez platoon being a viable option in case Jed only wants to bring one of the two corner OFs back.

I share the video not just because the clickbaity title reveals how my algorithm is tilted (though to be fair, the back end of his opening statement after he calls them frauds is, "they're also very good...particularly their offense..."), but rather since the Cubs have similar outcomes to the Brewers, you see them in comparison on the data tables shared. The "too long, didn't watch" of it is: Since 2025, the Brewers have collectively been an elite run producing team because they are disproportiately good vs. pitchers who don't throw hard, don't throw strikes, and don't prevent runs, a.k.a. "The Mitch Keller Theory" because over the course of 162 games, teams have to account for 1400+ innings, and half of those they're facing a pitcher worse that Mitch Keller. OK, here's the Cub side of it: Since '25, the Cubs have the best wOBA against the bottom 48 pitchers (.380) However, unlike the Brewers, they have the best wOBA (.311) against the top 48 pitchers. The Cubs are the 3rd BEST vs pitches below 98 mph. However, they're the 3rd WORST wOBA vs. pitches above 98MPH This is significant given that the playoff pitching ramps up in velo as teams are facing the 1-3 starter and high lev relievers. (Note the average 4S FB during the '25 regular season is clocked at 94.5 MPH v '25 playoffs at 95.8 MPH.) Like the Brewers, the Cubs are super patient - both teams are at the bottom of the Chase Rate% and Swing% tables in 2026, and conversely the top of the BB% rate. While the Brewers are 28th in HRs since 2025 (266), the Cubs are 4th (357). And a scan of the '26 leaderboards show that the Cubs are 6th in SLG (.415) while the Brewers are 20th (.398) All this to say, yeah Yankees series was hella frustrating; but in the aggregate, the Cubs have terrific balance on offense, even with their weakness against elite velo. In light of this, this really affirms why Jed pushed the pedal down at TDL.

Just watched Zeferjahn's postgame interview with Cole and Cliff. Really dig his vibe - just wants the ball every day - "strikeouts are good, but quick innings are even better..." He'll fit in juuuuust fine.

Weren't 17 of the draft picks this past class used towards acquiring more pitching? I'm intuiting that affirms that we have alignment with Zombro and Kantrovitz in the draft room. We may not flood future draft classes with just pitching, but I'm hopeful that by '29/'30 we'll have waves of cost-controlled supinators pushing to be on the big squad. Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, Jason - but perhaps not all of these pitchers pan out as starters; then you hone them to be useful relief pitchers. You augment that with the proven pro scouting/reclamation work that has delivered Jacob Webb and Ryan Rolison this past year, Drew Pomeranz and Brad Keller the previous season, and so on. Of course it's easy to write out in a blog, but that seems like a viable path to get off the cost-controlled pitching treadmill within the next 3-4 seasons.

Perhaps it's projecting a bit too far in the future, and while it's the right thing to do for the '26 campaign - Does this hinder his desire to re-sign with the Cubs on a QO or extension offer? (akin to - $75M/3Y, and maybe mutual option for that 3rd year)